August 13, 2015

PENNSYLVANIA

Harrisburg: Kane speaks out about charges for first time

State Attorney General Kathleen Kane says she is innocent of the criminal charges against her. She says she is the victim of a ploy by state officials to hide pornographic and racially and religiously insensitive emails that they shared between 2008 and 2012. She gave no signs of stepping down from her position.

Pittsburgh: Former teacher’s sex scandal

A judge threw out motions to dismiss the sex assault case against former Plum High School teacher Jason Cooper. Cooper is accused of having sex with a student who while 18, could not legally consent to sex with a teacher under state law.

Pittsburgh: Building owners suing city over guard training

The Building Owners and Managers Association is saying that the city ordinance mandating the training of security guards is illegal. The ordinance states that employers have to pay for their security guards to be trained in the use of force, terrorism detection and emergency response.

Pittsburgh: Kraft Heinz Co. cuts jobs

The newly-formed condiment monolith is cutting 2,500 jobs in the U.S. and Canada. A company spokesman said that despite the merger, Heinz will still be a prominent icon in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh: Man charged with harassing FBI agent

A Pittsburgh man has been charged with stalking and harassing a federal agent by posting a fake sex ad on Craigslist with the agent’s contact information. The agent, identified as T.P., investigated Banks in 2003 on accounts that he was selling pirated software.

Statewide: Still no state budget

Gov. Tom Wolf criticized the GOP budget plan that he vetoed in June because it “really didn’t do anything for Pennsylvania.” The state has not had a budget in seven weeks.

Area officials announced that in September, they may consider contracting sharpshooters to help manage the deer population. This follows the community’s deer culling program that ended in March.

Harrisburg: School districts assigned junk bond status

Moody’s Investors Service released a report saying that Pennsylvania has some of the most financially distressed school districts in the country. Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said that stresses, like charter school tuition mandates, led to the ranking.

Erie County: Report reveals spike in student obesity

A 238-page health assessment showed that the percentage of overweight students in the county had more than doubled from the 2011-12 to 2012-13 academic year. The county Department of Health posted the data on Tuesday.

NATIONAL

Clinton hands over her private server

Hillary Clinton gave authorities the private computer server that she used to send personal emails when she was secretary of state. She also handed over a thumb drive that had copies of her emails on it.

Texas cop fired for killing black teenager

Arlington cop Brad Miller was fired on Tuesday for “inappropriate judgement” after he shot and killed 19-year-old Christian Taylor over the weekend. Regardless, Taylor’s father, Adrian, said he wasn’t comforted by the officer’s dismissal.

Trump pro-Planned Parenthood

Donald Trump told Fox correspondent Sean Hannity that he supports Planned Parenthood. He says that he opposes abortion, but commends the health provider on its other services.

More PublicSource stories

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After three fatalities in the last week, including a woman who was killed in a bicycle-car accident in the Oakland area, Bike Pittsburgh is petitioning for immediate safety changes. The group is asking for adjustments such as speed bumps, educational programs and traffic enforcement so bikers and motorists can better share the road.